Shelving



Dec. 7, 194s. A, F. KRN 2,455,682

l SHELVING l Filed Dec. 26, 1945 Z TTORNEYQS n Patented Dec. 7, 1948 fi.'vz l fr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i SHELVING Albert F. Kern, sanFrancisco, Calif. Application December 26, 1945, 4Serial No. 637,209

, Claims. (Cl. 21h-1147) rl'his invention relates to shelving, an objectbeing to provide new and novel means whereby supporting metal postslocated in convenientl positions can be utilized for supporting shelvesin o any desired `relationship.

It is a further object to provide shelf-support ing meanswhich issimple, durable and elilcient in construction and can be set up readily.

Another objectisyto provide a supportl which can utilize ordinary pipesections as supporting posts, the present improvement being such that itmaybe mounted readily on thepipes.`

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention 'consists of certain novel detailsof construction and combinations of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed and pointed out in the claims, it being `understood thatchanges may be .made inthe construction and arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the spirit ofthe invention as claimed. i l

In the accompanying drawing, the preferred form of the invention hasbeen shown.

VIn said drawing,

Figure l is a front elevation of someshelves mounted on a supportingstructure such as constitutes the present invention.

Figure 2 is a view partly in plan and partly in section showing severalshelves and their-connections with a post.

Figure3 is a` section on line 33, Figure 2.

1 Figure 4 is a top plan View of one of the supporting collars of g theapparatus.

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view of one of the collar engaging or couplingunits. l

Referring to the figures by charactersof reference, I designates one ormore posts which can be in the form of pipes and each of these posts isextended through one or more collars 2 which can be held in any desiredpositions by means of set screws 3.

Each collar is provided with a flared annular portion l which cooperateswith the post to define circular recess 5. Notches 5 are formed in thetop edge of the collar and are preferably spaced apart equal distancesas shown in Figure 4, it being preferred to make the notches withdownwardly converging sidewalls 1.

In connection with each collar there are used one or more couplingelements. Each of these elements comprises a plate 8 which can have onecorner portion removed to deiine an arcuate edge 9 so proportioned as tosnugly embrace a portion of the post I with which it is to be assembled.An arcuate flange I Il is extended downwardly 2 from said edge and isadapted to be seated in` a portion of the recess 5 and, in order to holdthe flange against longitudinalmovement within said recess, it `haslanoutwardly or laterally extended lug I I proportioned to t in one of thenotches 6. Extending from the respective ends lof `thefiange I0 areconnecting flanges I2 located at the adjacent edges of the plate 8 andeach of these connecting flanges is cut away along its bottom portion,as indicated at I3 so as to clear the upper edge of the collar 2 whenfiange IIJ is mounted in the recess 5. l This is clearly disclosedinFigure `3.`A tongue I4 is extended from each of the flanges I2 and thesetongues areoffset laterally relative to `said flanges so that when thetwo l 'flanges I2` and plates 8 are assembled one beside the other, thetongues M at the meeting edges of the plateswill cooperate to define aslot I5.

` `It is to be` understood that the plate 8 can be ofany desired sizeand outline. In the structure illustrated, these plates are soproportioned that four of them can be extended in the saine plane abouta supporting post, the flanges Ill being l extended through 90 degrees.Obviously, however, the shapes of theplates and the lengths oftheirdepending flanges IU can be so modified that `the number of plates whichcan be arranged around a post at a given point can be increasedorreduced. l l

"In practice, a pair of plates 8 can be positioned .withopposite tonguesin engagement with oppo site faces of a pair of opposed angle strips I5`and, by means of rivets" I6 o-r the like these parallel contactingangle strips I5 can `be held jtogether andto the-tongues I4 within theslot I5' defined by the tongues. `See Figure 2.

Another pair of coupling elements, one of which has been shown in Figure5, is then assembled with the other ends of the strips I5 as beforeexplained so that a bridging unit comprising two pairs of couplingelements and a connection between said elements thus is produced. Anydesired number of these bridging units can be assembled, depending uponthe number of shelves to be mounted between the posts I. After thevarious bridging elements have been assembled with the collars on theposts, the shelves to be supported and which have been indicated at S,are placed on the an gle strips and on the plates 8 at the ends of theshelves. If preferred, the strips I5 and the plates B can, inthemselves, constitute shelves. Obviously the shelves and/or theirbridging elements can be quickly assembled with the co1- lars 2 simplyby lowering the flanges I0 into the adjacent grooves 5 and they caneasily be removed simply by reversing that operation. When the bridgingelements are in engagement with the supporting collars they serve asrig-id connections between the posts so that the posts thus connectedcan be supported on end without requiring any special fastening means atthe bases. Thus, the shelf arrangement is particularly useful in showcases, show windows and wherever it is desired to provide support formerchandise or the like'to be displayed. It will be understood that itis not necessary always t0)y completely encircle a post with couplingunits such as shown in Figure 5. If preferred, these.

units can be mounted singly, in pairs, etc., so

l"ments arranged in pairs, each element including a plate having a cutout at one corner adapted to that it is thus possible to set up yvarious-combi' shelves on each post.

The parts are inexpensive to manufacture,

can be made of a light metal and are easily handied because of theinterchanseabilitv of .the parts as well as the other advantages pointedout, and the invention has many applications not possible with the usualtypes ofv knockdow shelving. y What is claimed is: 1. In a shelvingstructure a post, a collar Aadjustably mounted thereon providing anannular recess in its upper end, plates each having a cut out at onecorner adapted to embrace the post, a flange depending from each plateadjacent the cut out portion and adapted for insertion into the recess,tongues extending from the bottoms of the plates and cooperating to'form s1otsbei tween tongues on adjacent plates, and shelf en gagi-ngmeans secured within the slots.

2. In shelving a post, a collar thereon provid ing an annular recess inits upper surface and having a notched wall, vcoupling elements eachincluding a plate having a cutout at one corner adapted to embrace thepost, means depending from the plate adjacent the cut out portions andadapted for seating in the recess and engagement in said notched wall,and a pair of spaced tongues extending laterally from the platecooperating to form a slot between tongues of adjacent couplingelements, for attachment of bridging elements to the cooperatingtongues.

3. Shelving including posts, collars mounted thereon each having anannular recess in the upper end and provided with a notched wall,coupling elements having cut out portions adapted to embrace the post'arranged in pairs, the elements .of each pair overlying one of thecollars, flanges depending .from the elements afdjacent the cut outportions of each pair` and embrace the post, an arcuate iiange dependingIfromth'e plate vadjacent the cut out and adapted to be seated intherecess in one of the -collars and a lug on the flange for insertion intoone of the notches, a pair of tongues on the coupling elementscooperating to lprovide a slot between tongues on adjacent couplingelements, and bridging elements connectiong the pairs of couplingelements, said bridging elements being extended into and securedwithinthe slots dened by the tongues of the respective pairs,

5. In shelving, a post,y a collar adjustably mounted thereon and havingits Wall :dared to de. une an annular recess between the post and saidwallthere being spaced notches formed in the wall, anda plurality ofcoupling elements mount- .able on the collar, each including a platehaving a cut out at one .corner adapted to embrace the post, an arcuateflange depending from the plate adjacent the ,out Vout and adapted forseating in theannular recess, a lug on the flange engage able in oneofthe notches, anda pair of spaced tongues laterally veXinded from theplate co,- operating to provide a slot betweentongues on `adjacentcoupling elements, for attachment to adjacent coupling elements ofbridging means insertable into the slots. l l ALBERT F, KERN.

` REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 383,551 Barrows May 29, 1888835,884 Gray Nov. 13, 1906 1,824,682 Oneil v Sept. 22, 51931 N FOREIGNPATENTS y Number Country l Date

